Leyden
Creates Israel Anglo Consumer Rights Internet Forum
By
Daphna Berman Haaretz Jerusalem----September
8, 2006...... A new Israel Internet consumer rights group has been created for
the Anglo community, in a bid to protect native English-speakers against fraud,
false advertising, poor service or other consumer pitfalls. The
Yahoo group, IsraelConsumerRights,
was created this week and aims to provide a forum for concerned consumers looking
to discuss anything from retail chains and professional services to nursery schools
and moving companies. A complaint must be substantiated by at least two other
sources or be accompanied by evidence before it is posted, to protect against
libel suits. "We're
not trying to put people out of business or bad-mouth anyone, but rather to protect
consumers and provide a forum for complaints about services and companies," said
Joel Leyden, moderator and owner of the group. "There is no forum for Anglos to
redress consumer complaints and our most powerful tool is the Internet." Though
there is no shortage of Anglo Internet chat groups in Israel, many are moderated
so that attacks on businesses or retail stores are not published. Leyden, for
example, started Newraanana,
a Yahoo group, after his complaint about a retail store in the area was not published
on Raananalist, the city's first e-mail list. IsraelConsumerRights, however, is
aiming to bypass the moderators in many of the other lists and provide a forum
for frustrated consumers who are not able to air their complaints because of concerns
about libel or slander. "The
issue of consumer rights is more acute for Anglos because many are new immigrants
to Israel who did not grow up with this culture," Leyden said. "They are consumers
in a new country and newcomers will sometimes be taken advantage of. This group
allows people to come together and put pressure on businesses to clean up their
act." Internet
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